‘Poroshenko wants to internationalize the situation and turn it into a conflict between Ukraine and Russia’

Russia does not consider itself party to the conflict in Ukraine, seeing it as a conflict between the Eastern Ukrainians and the Kiev, while Poroshenko’s analysis of the situation is totally different, legal expert and blogger Alexander Mercouris told RT.

RT:President Poroshenko has used some quite strong words to
describe this meeting. Do you expect the fate of the whole world
is really being decided in Minsk? And will it play a decisive
role in ending the Ukrainian crisis?

Alexander Mercouris: No, I don’t actually. I
think this is an exploratory meeting between the Ukrainians and
Russians which has happened after a great deal of international
pressure and is probably to be explained to some extent by the
deteriorating situation in Ukraine itself. The economy there is
going very badly wrong, the military situation is not good, and
this is having broader repercussions for Europe. So there is a
push from various people to try and come to some sort of
rearrangement, but I think to talk about this being the solution
to a great crisis that is endangering the whole peace in Europe
is to overdramatize the importance of this meeting.

RT:Why do you think Vladimir Putin devoted
most of his opening speech to economics, unlike his Ukrainian
counterpart, who right away spoke about the conflict in
Ukraine?

AM: The fundamental difference is that the
Russians do not consider themselves to be a party to the conflict
in Ukraine. They see the conflict there as a conflict between the
people in the Eastern Ukraine and the authorities who came to
power in Kiev in February. So their analysis of the situation is
totally different from the one of Poroshenko and of the people in
Kiev who want to internationalize the question and turn it into a
conflict between Ukraine and Russia. That is why you see a
totally different approach from the two presidents.

RT:Russia, the EU and Ukraine have a number
of economic differences to sort out - gas, for example. Do you
think this summit will end that deadlock?

AM: The great problem with the gas issue is that
Ukraine is in very heavy arrears on its gas. And I think what the
Russians will be looking for is some commitment from Ukraine; I
mean hard cash to actually pay off these arrears before they are
prepared to compromise further on the gas price issue. The
problem is at the moment that Ukraine has very little, if any,
money left at all. Partly because it has been using the money it
has been getting from the organizations like the IMF to fight the
war in the east instead of stabilizing its economy. I am sure
that Mr. Putin in private discussions that he is to have with Mr.
Poroshenko is going to point that out.

RT:Before the summit, the German Chancellor
said that Ukraine has to strike a balance between its European
leanings and good relations with Russia. We've heard President
Putin say Russia will have to end preferential treatment of
Ukraine should it strike a deal with the EU. Can Ukraine really
play both sides after that?

AM: The trouble with this is that it might have
been possible once, but it is going to be very difficult now
because first of all, the EU Association Agreement to which
Ukraine has now committed itself frankly closes off this option,
it makes Ukraine part of the European single market, and it is
very difficult to see how Ukraine can simultaneously continue in
the previous trade arrangements that it had with Moscow.
Secondly, doing that also totally flies in the face of what the
whole Maidan movement in Ukraine had been about, this is to turn
away from Moscow and towards Europe. So to say now, after all
that has happened over all these months, all the violence that
has been in Ukraine, that maybe after all Ukraine needs to find a
balance between Russia and the EU, is very late. And probably, in
my opinion, too late for that to happen.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.